Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, early this year, in January, as the Member pointed out, Mr. Ramsay and the Member had both brought this issue to me, where the college had cancelled the program at the last minute. I undertook to have the department work with the college to make sure that that sort of thing didn't happen and was able to assure both of them that the second year would not be cancelled again by the college. I also told them that I would continue to work with the college to make sure that first year would not be cancelled, as well. In fact, we have assured the Apprenticeship Board, and employers, that there will be no cancellation of either first or second year courses in this 2005-06 year.

---Applause.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister is well aware, because I've communicated with him by letter in this regard and the Minister wrote back. Why is it that he didn't communicate that to the Members on this side that had major problems with that? I would like to know from the Minister exactly in what way, and can we have a copy of anything that communicates to Aurora College that they will guarantee that the first and second-year programs will go on? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll be happy to provide the Member with a copy of the communications, yes.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that the apprenticeship students were very upset about was the fact that when the Aurora College Apprenticeship Program cancelled the program at the last minute, a student made his own arrangements with the employer to go take the program elsewhere, in Alberta. He was refused SFA and was told there were no exceptions. I would like to know from the Minister if he would direct his staff that, in these circumstances, they have to be considered for SFA programs? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now that the college is guaranteeing not to cancel the courses, we need to make sure that we are supporting the college, because we are providing the funding for that course in Fort Smith as part of their base funding. If we also support the student to travel down south, then we're paying for it twice. So we have to, as a government, decide whether it's one way or the other. Either we support the programs being delivered in the South, or in the North. So at this point, with the guarantee from the college that the courses are going to go on, we're going to insist that students take the courses that are available at Fort Smith. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe it is important for the Minister, and the staff, to be prepared for contingencies, and there could be cases where the Aurora College, for one reason or another, is not able to provide that program. I mean, all colleges face that. If that happens, that student has to be able to be considered for SFA. Would the Minister consider that please, and have that flexibility? Thank you.

Thank you, M. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We want to be clear, it's not student financial assistance that our apprenticeship candidates qualify for, but there is apprenticeship support for technical training. If the college can't offer a course within six months, then we will support the students to take the course in the South and the typical supports will be offered to them. So, yes, Mr. Speaker, we are prepared to look at those circumstances, where the college can't offer the training.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. With respect to the appeal process that we have in our system, or the lack thereof, Mr. Speaker, I continue to get inquiries that people have had their programming changed, or else they have been denied programming. Actually, what has happened is that they are getting approved for programming, and then, later on, the corporation changes their mind based on I don't know what criteria, and the people don't know where to appeal those decisions, Mr. Speaker. I have brought it up before in this House, that if a regional manager is denying people, or giving them a no answer, it's not right to be appealing to that same person, because that person already said no. So chances are, and history has shown, that the answer remains no. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, based on allocations for our programs, it is based on the dollars we do have at the time of these programs being the issue. In a lot of cases, people have applied for different programs and they have been accepted. Again, a lot of the decisions we make are based on information that's being held by the individuals, or information that we need from the banks. At that point, there is a period that has to take place for a review that will be done internally. Because of a lack of information, or because of a lack of resources, the decision is to delay those projects, and for the individual to reapply the following year. I think that's probably the frustration that a lot of people are feeling. They apply for these programs time and time again, and then, basically, think they have the programs, and then get a letter later saying that the programs have either run out of resources or that they cannot issue. So I think through this process there is an appeal process, but, again, it's appealed to the regional office, through the regional director's office in each region. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I think that, fundamentally, the issue is that people do not have an appeal process, and we don't offer them any. I think with our Income Support Program, if we deny something or we change something in the programming, we actually include, as part of the letter, an appeal process. Okay, you've got so many days to do this, this is

who you contact, and it is typically an independent body. For example, the SFA Appeal Board is like an independent body. In the Housing Corporation, Mr. Speaker, I've been asking the corporation to set up something like that so that people know we have a fair and just system. That's all people are asking for, is fairness, Mr. Speaker. Will the Housing Corporation set up such a system?

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we all know, we are changing the mandate of the corporation, and we are looking at the delivery mechanism that we use. We are looking at trying to streamline that process so that it is more sensitive to issues in regard to our clients. I think that, through that process, we can seriously look at that being something we can consider through the process of consultation that will take place in the next couple of months to redefine the mandate of the corporation. Also, we'll be looking at exactly how that will function. So I'm hoping to bring it back to the attention of the Member myself, and also through the process of public consultation on the mandate of the corporation, which will be coming forward in the next couple of months. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. It has been brought to attention that there is not a quorum in the House. Mr. Clerk, please ring the bells.

---Ringing of the Bells

The Chair recognizes a quorum. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm so pleased to see that the government has a quorum. Just with respect to the appeal process and the NWT Housing Corporation, once again, how are people, today, going to get their questions answered in terms of appealing any decisions? Once again, I state for the record, that when they're appealing to the person that said no, we have to establish some kind of outside process, because people are just not being treated fairly. Those are the inquiries that I've been getting, Mr. Speaker. So how are we going to temporarily fix that system today? Give the people an appeal process, Mr. Speaker.